Ideas for keeping a clean and organized shop

I use scrap lumber to make things as needed. My work area isn't that big and I have a lot of scrap wood from projects. It goes up top.

My work bench is within arm's reach of the tools, so I can turn and get them out/put them back easily. As long as I'm working at the bench. I made the bench on the right out of our front porch railing when my wife decided she wanted an open look.

I was out sorting and putting things away so I was a little messy. I think I need to steal some ideas from here and do an overhaul.

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InOmaha said:
I use scrap lumber to make things as needed. My work area isn't that big and I have a lot of scrap wood from projects. It goes up top.

My work bench is within arm's reach of the tools, so I can turn and get them out/put them back easily. As long as I'm working at the bench. I made the bench on the right out of our front porch railing when my wife decided she wanted an open look.

I was out sorting and putting things away so I was a little messy. I think I need to steal some ideas from here and do an overhaul.
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I'm doing the same thing, getting sorted and organized and getting rid of a lot of stuff. I need to free up space for Jeep parts and bicycles, I have this habit of collecting things with wheels. This thread has got me inspired to do it so I'm working one area at a time.

I also use scrap wood but I also use scrap metal to make brackets and shelves. Yesterday I made this shelf for all my caulk out of more sheet scraps. You have to utilize every inch of wall space. I store my rattle cans in the bathroom (really just a toilet room), I removed the wall covering and fastened lumber for shelves, perfect for all the rattle cans. (It's just a partition wall so no insulation worries). When they were on a deep shelf I could never find what I wanted and trying to look thru them they would always fall over.

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Having transitioned from having enough room to having much less, I have found that organization is the answer.
My wife is a bit of a nit-pick about ‘tidy-ness’; needless to say, a packed garage means I tend to leave shit out while I’m “mid-project” & that doesn’t sit well with her.
She pressed me during the lockdown to organize my tools.
Here’s a few of the drawers.

They don’t look this good any more, but it did help for a good while.

I may go through it a second time.

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For me, the key to keeping drawers organized is dividers and racks. A place for everything, everything in its place so to speak.

An important thing to keep in mind is that every time you close a drawer, everything shifts toward the back of the drawer. To keep things where you put them, you have to control for that movement in your design.

Here are a few of my drawers as examples:

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Here is another idea. I use these OS Card cabinets from back in the day. They are designed to hold solid stacks of OS cards - so they hold a crazy amount of weight. And built in places for labels.

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Simple plastic food containers turn the drawers into really neat places for bolts, nuts, and other items.

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I wish I had a dozen of these cabinets. For those that may not know, Punched OS cards were how computers executed programs back in the day. Each card was a line of code. You executed a program by loading a stack of cards in order into a reader.

And yes, I worked at a place where I programmed and ran these things - it’s where I got these actual cabinets decades ago.
 
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NashvilleTJ said:
Here is another idea. I use these OS Card cabinets from back in the day. They are designed to hold solid stacks of OS cards - so they hold a crazy amount of weight. And built in places for labels.

View attachment 406440

Simple plastic food containers turn the drawers into really neat places for bolts, nuts, and other items.

View attachment 406439

I wish I had a dozen of these cabinets. For those that may not know, Punched OS cards were how computers executed programs back in the day. Each card was a line of code. You executed a program by loading a stack of cards in order into a reader.

And yes, I worked at a place where I programmed and ran these things - it’s where I got these actual cabinets decades ago.
Click to expand...

I remember you posting those OS card cabinets a while back. It inspired me to find something similar. I found, what I believe, was a Library dewey decimel card file. Its STUPID heavy, even empty. Works great with takeout boxes to hold my nut and bolt supply.

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NashvilleTJ said:
For me, the key to keeping drawers organized is dividers and racks. A place for everything, everything in its place so to speak.

An important thing to keep in mind is that every time you close a drawer, everything shifts toward the back of the drawer. To keep things where you put them, you have to control for that movement in your design.

Here are a few of my drawers as examples:

View attachment 406431

View attachment 406434

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View attachment 406433
Click to expand...

Looks like you're running low on pencils, Sharpies are good
 
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Brianj5600 said:
Shouldn't the end snipper in the middle of the drawer be in the section to the right with the other end snippers.

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Brian, Brian, Brian, my good and dear friend, you are confusing metal end snippers with tile chippers. They do not belong together.

It takes a lot to out-OCD me…

🙂
 
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NashvilleTJ said:
Here is another idea. I use these OS Card cabinets from back in the day. They are designed to hold solid stacks of OS cards - so they hold a crazy amount of weight. And built in places for labels.

View attachment 406440

Simple plastic food containers turn the drawers into really neat places for bolts, nuts, and other items.

View attachment 406439

I wish I had a dozen of these cabinets. For those that may not know, Punched OS cards were how computers executed programs back in the day. Each card was a line of code. You executed a program by loading a stack of cards in order into a reader.

And yes, I worked at a place where I programmed and ran these things - it’s where I got these actual cabinets decades ago.
Click to expand...

I have a couple of card files in my garage and another one out in my shed. This is a great way to go if you can find them and they usually aren't expensive. I got mine through an office equipment liquidator. They came from a hospital morgue. They even had some cards in them with medical info on some of their "customers". o_O I cut down plastic juice bottles and use them as bins. I also made some simple sheet metal dividers.

Others have mentioned office file cabinets. I use them too for hand tools (drills, sanders, etc.) and additives, cleaners, etc.

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